Machine for forming metal



April 10, 1934-. ugs- R 1,953,934

MACHINE FOR FORMING METAL Filed March 24, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR THEODORE M H/5T/?.

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ATTORNEY 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 r I I l INVENTOR ATTORNEY A ril 10, 1934. 1-. M. HIESTER MACHINE FOR FORMING METAL Filed March 24, 1932 THEODORE M. H/ESTER.

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T. M. Hl-EST'ER MACHINE FOR FORMING METAL Filed March 24 1932 r 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I lNVf/VTOI? THEODORE IV}. H/ESTER. BYZZ,%Z ATTORNEYS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 T. M. HIESTER MACHINE FOR FORMING METAL Filed March 24, 1952 April 10, 1934.

S g\\\\\%\ i S S E E Ill/VENT THEODORE M. HIES TEE.

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR FORMING METAL corporation of Ohio Application March 24,

11 Claims.

My invention relates to a machine and method of forming metal.

The object of my invention is to provide means of rolling and forming and at the same time extruding by rolling and forming portions of a metal sheet, while not disturbing in any manner the remaining portions of the metal sheet.

It is my object by so forming metal to thin the sections treated by my machine according to my method so that they would be of lesser thickness than the sections that are not so treated.

In particular it is my object to provide means of producing a uniform series from a single sheet of such treated parts of the metal sheet so that the operation may be performed simultaneously over all parts of the sheet Without warping, bending, twisting or drawing the untreated portions of the sheet.

It is a further object to provide means of automatically aligning the sheet.

It is a further object to provide means by which a continuous strip'or sheetmay be treated by sections, each treated portion being automatically positioned with respect to the next untreated portion so as to give uniformity and continuity to the treated portions of the sheet.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete apparatus while in inoperative position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation partially in section of the presser head of my invention.

Figure 3 is a plan view partially in section of the formers and former plate which is located below the presser head shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a vertical section through one of the pressers showing it in starting position.

Figure 8 is a side elevation partially in section of the presser showing it at the end of its operation.

Figure 9 is a longitudinal section through the completed portion of the strip showing the baking pan cups formed in the sheet.

It will be understood that I have illustrated herein the formation according to my method and apparatus of a baking pan as illustrative of one of the uses of my invention, but it will be further understood that in doing so I do not desire to limit myself to any particular article or form of article to be so produced. My invention is adaptable to producing various types of articles, as will be appreciated from the following description.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be 1932, Serial No. 600,971

observed that the machine consists of a press bed 1 having vertically disposed guide members 2 between which rests the former bed plate 3. Over the former bed plate 3 which carries the forms 4 and the presser plate 5 on the guides 6 is reciprocally mounted on the guides 2 the reciprocating presser head 7 which is attached at 8 to the press mechanism which reeiprocates it. The presser head is formed of an upper cap member 9, an intermediate section 10 which contains the guiding eyes 10a and sleeves ll travelling on the guides 2 It is further composed of a bottom section 12, the three sections 9, 10 and 12 being connected together by the bolts 13.

The presser head cap 9 is formed with a cylinw drical chamber 14 in which is mounted the driving spindle l5 driven from the press in the usual manner. This spindle is mounted on ball bearings 16 and carries on its lower end a gear 17 which meshes with the ring gear 18 that is mounted on the sleeve 19 eccentrically of the axis of the spindle 15. This sleeve 19 travels in ball bearings 20 located in the top of the intermediate section 10 and in ball bearings 21 located in the bottom of the lower section 12. The drivb ing sleeve 19, which is the master driving sleeve, has a gear 22 formed intermediate its length and locking key members 23 on the inside thereof for receiving and engaging the spindles of the pressers 24 which are provided at their tops with slots 25 for receiving the driving splines 23. The gear 22 serves to drive the gears 26, 27, 23, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36. Each of these gears is provided with its driving sleeve 3'7 and a threaded locking sleeve 38 engaging the locking ring 39 which rests within the groove 40 on the spindle 24 of the presser member. Thus these presser members rotate in unison, being driven from the common source of power, the spindle 15. As they rotate together it is necessary, as illustrated in Figure 6, to have the laterally projecting presser fingers so arranged that they will clear each other as they rotate.

The bottom section 12 carries depending fingers 41, the function of which will be explained hereinafter.

Turning to the former bed plate and the formers, the bed plate 3 carries the vertically disposed guide pins 6 on which is mounted through sleeves 5a the plate 5, upon which rests the sheet of metal being treated. This plate 5 is provided with a plurality of apertures 42. This plate is supported on a plurality of helical springs 43, the upper ends of which are telescopically mounted on studs 44 depending from the bottom of the plate 5 and the lower ends of which are mounted in the chambers 45 in the bed plate 3. The bed plate 3 is provided with detachable studs 46 having heads 4'7 which serve to limit the downward movement of the plate 5 with the metal sheet thereon being treated. The forms 4 are bolted by the bolts 48 to the bed plate 3 and project upwardly into the openings 42.

Mounted on the side of the bed plate 3 are adjustable plates 49 attached by bolts 50 in slots 51, which plates are used through their overhanging portions 49a to limit the upward movement of the plate 5 under the impulse of the springs 43.

The plate 5 also carries in slots 52 bolts 53 that retain laterally aligning stops 54.

The continuous sheet is introduced from the right-hand side of Figure 3 and rests against abutment pins 55 which are mounted on the rocking arms 58 pivoted at 5'? on the plate 5.

When the sheet has been worked upon, the fingers 55 are lifted, the sheet shifted to the left hand until the fingers 55 can be dropped between the third and fourth series of cups so as to position the cups and thereby position the next sheet to be formed.

Turning to the presser head, the spindle 24 has a collar 58 which has three pairs of ears 59 supporting on the pins 60 links 61, which are in turn pivoted on pins 62 to guide the presser arms 63 having guiding shoulders 64. The presser arms revolve about the axis of the spindle 24 when the spindle rotates. These presser arms carry diagonal axles 55 on which is mounted the former extruding roller 66 having a rolling face 67 and rounded extrusion corner 68. The arms 63 have their guiding shoulders 64 traveling in guide slots 69 in guideways 70 in the presser head '71 which is slidingly mounted upon the sleeve '72 of the spindle 24. Within this hollow sleeve 72 is a helical spring '73 that engages the upper inside portion '74 of the spindle and the presser block to its respective ends. The presser head 71 is prevented from rotation by engagement of the spline 71a on the spindle 72 in the spline groove 71b in the head 71. The presser block 75 is provided with a face plate '76 on the retaining stud '77, the thrust on which is taken by the ball bearing 78. The face plate '76 rests upon the metal plate to be worked upon designated 79. This plate 79 is of a given thickness that is substantially uniform throughout. This thickness remains undisturbed and the metal is not disturbed where not worked upon by the former extrusion rollers 66. Such areas are designated A and B, while the areas which are worked upon by the rollers 66 over the forms 4 are appreciably thinned, rolled and extruded as at C.

In operation it will be thus seen that, when the metal sheet is placed in position beneath the multiple presser heads on top of the plate 5, and when the press is applied, the metal sheet is formed by the presser rollers, the supporting plate 5 travelling downwardly under the influence of the studs 41 just ahead of the metal sheet, which is only held by the presser block plates '76. Upon the completion of the operation and the lifting of the presser head, the springs 45 will elevate the metal sheet as formed so as to lift the cups from the formers of the forms 4. The sheet so formed can then be moved to the left hand until the pins 55 are dropped between the next series of cups, thereby automatically positioning the sheet which has not been worked upon for a new set of cups to be formed on the continuous sheet. This serves to automatically position successive sections of the sheet in position to be worked upon so that each series of cups would be equally distantly spaced from every other series.

I desire to comprehend within my invention such modifications as may be clearly embraced within the claim and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, a plurality of forms, a plurality of rotating presser members adapted to roll and extrude portions of the work sheet mounted on said forms into engagement with said forms to follow the configurations thereof, a common means for moving said pressers as a unit downwardly over said forms, and a common means for rotatng said pressers in unison in overlapping interlocking arrangement whereby they can rotate without engaging with one another.

2. In combination, a plurality of forms, a plurality of rotating presser members adapted to roll and extrude portions of the work sheet mounted on said forms into engagement with said forms to follow the configurations thereof, a common means for moving said pressers as a unit downwardly over said forms, and a common means for rotating said pressers in unison in overlapping interlocking arrangement whereby they can rotate without engaging with one another, and means for driving one of said pressers and means for driving the remainder of said pressers from 1 the one so driven.

3. In combination, a plurality of forms, a yieldingly supported plate having apertures therein for said forms supported adjacent the top of the forms, a plurality of rotatable presser heads mounted one each over each form, a common means for moving said pressers downwardly, a common means for driving said pressers, and a common means for moving the apertured plate with a work sheet thereon and said pressers.

4. In combination, a plurality of forms, a yieldingly supported plate having apertures therein for said forms supported adjacent the top of the forms, a plurality of rotatable presser heads mounted one each over each form, a common means for moving said vessels downwardly, a common means for driving said pressers, a common means for moving the apertured plate with a work sheet thereon and said pressers, and means associated with each presser for holding an adjacent portion of the work sheet in its original plane on top of each form over which the work sheet is being formed by the pressers.

5. In combination, a plurality of forms, a yieldingly supported plate having apertures therein for said forms supported adjacent the top of the forms, a plurality of rotatable presser heads mounted one each over each form, a common means for moving said pressers downwardly, a common means for driving said pressers, a common means for moving the apertured plate with a work sheet thereon and said pressers, and means associated with such presser for holding an ad.- jacent portion of the work sheet in its original plane on top of each form over which the work sheet is being formed by the pressers, and means for aligning a fresh portion of the work sheet over the supporting plate engaging with portions of the work sheet already so formed.

6. In combination, a plurality of forms, a yieldingly supported plate having apertures therein for said forms supported adjacent the top of the forms, a plurality of rotatable presser heads mounted one each over each form, a common means for moving said pressers downwardly, a common means for driving said pressers, a common means for moving the apertured plate with awork sheet thereon and said pressers, and means associated with each presser for holding an adjacent portion of the work sheet in its original plane on top of each form over which the work sheet is being formed by the pressers, and space means associated with the bottoms of said forms for limiting the downward movement of said plate.

'7. In combination, a plurality of forms, a yieldingly supported plate having apertures therein for said forms supported adjacent the top of the forms, a plurality of rotatable presser heads mounted one over each form, a common means for moving said pressers downwardly, a common means for driving said pressers, a common means for moving the apertured plate with a work sheet thereon and said pressers, and means associated with each presser for holding an adjacent portion of the work sheet in its original plane on top of each form over which the work sheet is being formed by the pressers, space means associated with the bottoms of said forms for limiting the downward movement of said plate, and yielding means for resisting the downward movement of said plate, elevating it with the work sheet after the forming operation has been performed on the work sheet.

8. In combination, a press head, a plurality of formers suspended therefrom having diverging arms, means to drive said formers in synchronism with one another whereby their interlocking arms may overlap and pass by one another as the formers rotate.

9. In combination, a spindle, a reciprocating retaining head reciprocably mounted on said spindle and turning therewith, yielding means therebetween, a rotatable clamping head on the first mentioned head and a ball bearing between said heads, a plurality of diverging former arms slidably mounted on said first mentioned head and link actuating means connected to said arms and said spindle whereby the free ends of said arms are moved downwardly and outwardly upon the movement of said first mentioned head on the spindle.

10. In combination, a tapered form, a rotating spindle, a head mounted reciprocably on said spindle turning therewith, yielding means therebetween, means on said head to clamp a work piece on said form, guiding means on said head having a plurality of former arms, former arms guidingly disposed thereon and guided thereby, rollers on said arms having faces of the same angularity as said form, link means between said arms and said spindle for actuating said arms.

11. In combintion, a tapered form, a rotating spindle, a head mounted reciprocably on said spindle turning therewith, yielding means therebetween, means on said head to clamp a work piece on said form, guiding means on said head having a plurality of former arms, former arms guidingly disposed thereon and guided thereby, rollers on said arms having faces of the same angularity as said form, link means between said arms and said spindle for actuating said arms, and anti-friction means between the face of the means on said head engaging the work piece and the head itself and means of rotatably supporting said face on the head.

THEODORE M. HIESTER. 

